Cohesion and Coherence in English and Arabic: A Cross-Theoretic Study (Published)
Cohesion and Coherence Theory plays a significant role in the field of discourse analysis. Despite the fact that it occupies an important status in the Western linguistic literature, its linguistic roots in other cultures especially those in Arabic have not been paid enough attention. In Arabic, the classical linguistic renown study, namely Al-Nadhm Theory, proposed by Al-Jirjani seems to be an antecedent version,in a way or another, to the Western one. Thus, a scholar investigation of this claim is worth conducting to form a solid and clearer picture about cohesion and coherence as linguistic notions. This has prompted this paper to concern itself with the task of cross-theoretically contrasting the two theories so as to show the similarities and differences between them. Additionally, it attempts to find out some aspects of convergence between them. In association with the aforementioned aims, this study hypothesizes that the Western theory is a merely developed version of an antecedent version, namely the Arabic one. Though the two theories expose differences, they show similarities and share many linguistic areas where they meet. To achieve the aims of this study and test its hypotheses, it adopts a procedure which involves reviewing cohesion and coherence in the two theories in question, contrasting them, and, on the basis of the findings of the contrast, drawing some conclusions that accord with aims and hypotheses of this piece of research work. The conclusions are drawn to show whether the hypotheses of the study are verified or rejected.
Keywords: Arabic, Contrast., English, coherence, cohesion
An Analysis of the Use of Adverbs and Adverbial Clauses in the Sentences of Junior High School Pupils in the Ashanti Region of Ghana (Published)
The research shifts emphasis from the previously predominant area of analyzing the competence of Ghanaian school children in their use of the English Language by adopting the perspective of descriptive grammarians with much emphasis on process analysis. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative paradigm so as to adequately analyze the extent to which pupils in the Junior High School use adverbs and adverbial clauses in their sentences. In all, 100 pupils were selected using proportionate stratified sampling method. Essay texts and structured interview guide was used in gathering data from the sampled school pupils. After analysing using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the findings indicate that teachers and accessibility to language learning facilities play significant roles in second language acquisition.
Keywords: English, Junior High School, Teachers, adverbial clauses, adverbs
Language and Culture as Conflict Resolution Tools: Rethinking English as Lingua Franca (Published)
Language as a structure of meaning giving and reality creation is composed of words, phrases and sentences. Humans’ communications are based on these features to describe an event, explain one’s emotions, needs, interests and fears etc. Language is used to resolve or escalate dispute. People from different culture and social units perceive the world through the lens provided by their distinctive languages. Meaning that language provides repertoire of words that name the categories into which the language users have divided their world. In fact, definitions of words are linguistically, culturally and contextually bound. This is because words carry meanings that make sense to members of a shared social environment. Dispute resolution relies heavily on words (language). However, there is an underlying assumption in Nigeria that all these words should be in English – the second language. The researcher posits that if English is to be a conflict resolution tool in Nigeria. It must accommodate the diversity of culture and language usage. The paper therefore explores the challenges of English language in intercultural conflict resolution, and emphasizes the need to consider the different uses of the language in national and transnational conflict resolution.
Keywords: Conflict Resolution, Culture, English, Language, Lingua Franca
Language Use And Lexical Attrition: Do They Change Over Time (Published)
The issue of language use has already been assumed to be an important predicting factor for language attrition. Intuitively, it makes perfect sense that second or foreign language learners who make little use of a language experience more attrition than ones who use the language more frequently. Therefore, the availability or the lack of opportunities to use the language could influence the amount of language attrition, let alone an essential variable like vocabulary knowledge. Such language use factors must be considered in any model concerned with explaining FL attrition, and the primary purpose of the present study is to provide evidence about this. It attempts to examine a population of college acquired English among college leavers who vary in the extent to which they have been able to maintain contact with the target language over time. The findings demonstrated that participants rated many of their patterns of contact with English and vocabulary in particular somewhat lower after the end of formal instruction. Furthermore, the most powerful predictor appears to be the use of the internet which is strongly linked to better retention of productive vocabulary test over time.
Keywords: English, Language, Language Attrition, Literature, Vocabulary
THE EMERGENCE OF CAMEROON FRANCOPHONE ENGLISH AND THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH IN CAMEROON (Published)
A Sub-variety of English in Cameroon known as Cameroon Francophone English (CamFE) has been hitherto treated dismissively as a performance variety (Simo Bobda and Mbangwana 1993, Simo Bobda 1994) and in some cases not even recognized as a sub-variety of Cameroon English (Kouega 1999). Nevertheless, this variety is growing rapidly, is exhibiting fairly stable, and has systematic features that are significantly different from Cameroon English (CamE). This development is attributed to the change of attitudes of Francophones towards English. That is, we have recently been witnessing an unprecedented trend towards rushing for English among the Fracophones in Cameroon. On the basis of my personal experiences as a teacher of English as a second and foreign language and on some key findings by previous researchers, I look at the implications of this growth on the future of English spoken in Cameroon. The emergence of Cameroon Francophone English and the future of English in Cameroon
Keywords: Cameroon, English, Francophone English